Editorial Reviews

Children's Literature
- Beverly Kobrin

When they read the small print in Thanksgiving books, children will find that most authors acknowledged help from the staff of Plymouth Plantation. That outdoor, living-museum of 17th century Plymouth, Massachusetts, is the locale of Kate Waters' Sarah Morton's Day. It's where Russ Kendall photographed Amelia Poole in the role of Sarah, as she and her colleagues dressed, work, and spoke like the Pilgrims of 1627. Ms. Waters' first-person-singular narrative, in combination with Mr. Kendall's full color pictures, provides an historical verisimilitude with which youngsters will quickly and easily identify. A comparison of nine-year-old Sarah's and your elementary- school students' clothes, homes, and sunup-to-sundown activities ought to stimulate a lively class discussion.

Children's Literature
- Deborah Zink Roffino

These color photographs were shot on location at the Plimouth Plantation. Using first person narration, the author takes readers through a typical day of chores and events for Pilgrim youngsters. The devices used in each picture were recreated from actual accounts. Close-ups show the details of how clothes were laced, how fields were harvested, how fences were constructed. Nightcaps , muskets and cauldrons that were routine in yesteryear, now fascinate by their absurdity. Sarah was real child who arrived on the Mayflower. Sarah was nine in 1627 and she is mentioned in several Pilgrim journals, although there is no clear date of death.

Meet the Author

Author Kate Waters was born on September 4, 1951, in Rochester, NY. She went on to earn a B.A. from Newtown College of the Sacred Heart (Boston College) and a M.L.S. from Simmons’ Graduate School of Library and Information Science. She grew up in a big family in which storytelling was very important. She worked as a librarian for ten years at the Boston Public Library. There she became very interested in telling stories to young people and finding out what they enjoyed reading. She moved to New York where she worked on a children’s magazine. While working at the magazine, she started to think about new ways to present history and traditions to children. Her books include pictures of actors depicting the stories Kate writes. In addition, her books have been praised for their content and have won many awards. Kate currently lives in New York City.

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Anonymous

Posted November 16, 2006

A Well -Photographed Picture Book

This book is a part of companion, boy/girl pair of books, describing the life of children of the Pilgrims. Samuel Eaton's Day is for boys Sarah Morton's Day is for girls. Both are wonderfully done and very historically accurate. Both are lovingly photographed with child re-enactors, dressed in authentic costumes of the era, playing and doing chores that real children likely did in the Pilgrim era. Some of the photography, particularly those of ocean scenes and life aboard ship are exceptional, among the best in any story-book. The only shortcoming, if it is one, is that the images may be a tad too modern. Here, though, I may be revealing the traditions of my own childhood. My childhood books had either hand-painted color illustrations, or authentic old photographs. They were not digital high-tech, but they looked old, and that had a comfort all its own. Readers might try THE STORY OF THE PILGRIMS, by Katherine & H.L. Ross,which has hand-painted, color illustrations. Or for old historic portraits of the Pilgrim era, try my ROMANCE OF PILGRIMS, a revived tale, originally by Henry Longfellow.

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